Hundreds of graves are disturbed at an Illinois cemetery and that has impacted a New Mexico family.

The crime scene at Burr Oak Cemetery outside Chicago spans 150 acres where graves were dug up and caskets, crammed on top of each other in a money-making scheme.

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An Albuquerque man's loved ones were buried there.

Vince Dawson spoke Tuesday. He grew up on the Southside of Chicago and moved to Albuquerque with his wife in the mid 90s.

He's 1,100 miles away from the crime scene, but knee deep in it.

"I was absolutely numb. In fact, numb is an understatement," Dawson said.

Dawson said he heard the news when the rest of the world did.

The FBI and local police are at Burr Oak Cemetery in southwest Chicago are investigating a huge grave desecration scandal.

Police said they believe hundreds of graves were dug up and the bodies dumped to make room for more.

"Either they have pulled the caskets out and discarded the bodies or what I've heard in some cases is they've taken a backhoe and pounded the casket to compress it in order to put another casket on top of it. That's unfathomable," Dawson said.

In the 40s, Dawson's grandmother, Helen Scurlock, was buried at the historically African American cemetery.

In 1968, Dawson buried his mother there and in 1988 he laid his father to rest at there.

Dawson shared photos and worried they may be the only memories left of his loved ones.

Like the thousands of other families, Dawson said he doesn't know whether any of his loved ones' plots were tampered with.

"The best thing I can do is just wait," Dawson said.

Burr Oak remains closed to the public while authorities take on the daunting and tedious task of looking into every plot and going through cemetery records -- many that have been destroyed or altered.

"If their graves were disturbed, there headstones were totally removed and trashed and it's like they never existed," Dawson said.

Dawson said he has contacted the Cook County Sheriff's office with questions, but 7,000 other people have too.

He said he wants to return to Chicago to check on the plots, but has decided to wait until the cemetery opens to the public again and he gets more information.

Four people in Illinois have been arrested for the scheme.

They include a cemetery manager and three gravediggers.

According to the county sheriff's office, human remains have been found near the back of the cemetery.